Breakout by Paul Herron (notion reading list .txt) 📕

I can’t shake the feeling. So I whip my head up and I catch her.”

“Amy?”

He nods. “Staring right at me, but, like… intensely. Like she was concentrating on some math problem or something. I wasn’t even sure she was looking at me. I thought she was just distracted—you know when you stare at nothing?”

Sawyer nods.

“But then she got up and came to sit next to me.”

She laughs. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“What did she say?”

“Hi.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I may have grunted or something. See, back then I wasn’t the suave ladies’ man you see before you now. I was pretty screwed up. I was in the middle of realizing that I hadn’t actually come back from my tour without any issues. Not like I first thought. I wasn’t in the best of spaces.”

“What did she do? When she sat next to you?”

“She stared at me.”

Sawyer laughs again. “You’re kidding. Like, from right next to you?”

Constantine nods. “Like she was trying to memorize my face. I could feel her looking. Then I start to go red. I can feel the color creeping up my neck.”

“And she still kept staring?”

“Still kept staring. I finally turn to look at her. I can’t take the social embarrassment anymore. And she breaks into this smile…” He trails off, remembering. “Her face just transformed. She has—had—these laugh lines around her eyes. They made her look like she was about to break into laughter even when she wasn’t. But when she did… man, those eyes just lit up the room.”

“What did she say?”

“She said, and I quote, ‘You look like a puppy that’s been yanked from a kid’s warm bed and kicked out into the rain.’”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Then she asked if I wanted to go get a drink.”

“Did you go?”

“Honestly, I don’t think she’d have let me say no. So yeah, we went to a dive bar, played pool, talked about life. It was the first time I’d smiled since I came back from Afghanistan. Looking back on it now, I think it was the best night of my life.”

Sawyer is about to respond when Felix closes the door and turns to face them, interrupting their conversation.

“Coast is clear. I guess they’re all still busy killing each other.” He shakes his head in amazement. “Man, did you see that guy? I heard stories about Preacher, but that shit was crazy.” He holds his arms up in the air. “And you know I am the Lord when motherfuckers spray bullets in my name.”

Sawyer glances at Constantine. He shrugs and smiles. So much for conversation.

Felix turns his attention to her. “What’s the word, little lady? You doing okay after all that?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good to hear. You’re tough, yeah? Or are you like my ex-wife? Hides all her emotions till they explode out and she comes at me with a knife.” Sawyer doesn’t even get a chance to answer before he turns to Constantine. Jesus. It’s like he’s on speed or something. “So what’s the next move?”

Constantine suddenly holds a finger to his lips. They all fall silent as the sound of people wading through the water passes outside the door. He waits a couple of moments, then gets up, opens the door, and ducks his head briefly outside. He closes it softly. “Preacher and his men.”

“They heading the direction we want to go in?” asks Felix.

“Looks like it.” Constantine glances at Felix and then breaks into an unexpected grin. “I’d heard stories too, but, man… none of them do him justice. That guy is intense.”

There’s something off about Constantine, thinks Sawyer. He seems different since he came back from the armory. Somehow… lighter? She’s not sure if that’s right. But there’s a barely suppressed energy about him that seems like it’s about to burst out at the slightest chance.

“You sure the inmate corridor is out of commission?” he asks Felix.

“Saw it myself. Highway to the danger zone.”

Constantine sighs and looks over at Sawyer. “What do you think? Stick to the plan? Go through the prison units.”

“What about the staff corridor?” asks Felix.

Constantine shakes his head. “We can’t.”

“Why?”

“Kincaid was there. He chased us out.”

“Constantine,” says Felix patiently, like he’s talking to a kid. “What do you think is the most immediate danger to us? Trying to get through seven prison units with one gun, or spooky Kincaid, who I’m telling you right now is not sitting in that corridor like a creepy doll in a horror movie just waiting for you to walk by?”

Constantine still looks unsure.

“Come on, man. No harm in trying. We have guns now.”

“Yeah,” says Sawyer. “But it seems everyone else does too.” She looks at Constantine. “What’s with that?”

He shrugs. “We were attacked. Preacher’s guys got the keys, opened up the armory. I’m assuming it’s been emptied by now.”

“And Ramirez?”

“I killed him.”

“You killed him?” asks Felix. “Why?”

“He shot up a lot of unarmed people. Then he killed Henry. Right in front of me.”

“Henry’s dead?” says Felix. “Fuck, man.”

“Who’s Henry?” asks Sawyer.

“The guy I worked with in the maintenance shed,” says Constantine. “Old guy. But he was one of the good ones.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

He shrugs. “We’ve all got to go sometime. I guess tonight’s as good a night as any.”

She thinks this is an odd thing to say, but before she can question it, Constantine glances up at the old analog clock on the wall. “Five minutes are up. Let’s go. We’ve got two hours till the eye of the hurricane hits.” He hesitates, looking like he’s going to say something more. But he doesn’t. Instead, he opens the door and checks the hallway before stepping outside.

They leave the mail room. Sawyer can hear gunshots echoing around the prison, but they’re not just coming from back in the direction of the gym. They’re coming from up ahead too, from far in the distance. From everywhere.

The mail room is near the first door leading into the prison units. As they make their way through the corridors, Sawyer can’t help noticing that the building is not coping well